Year in Review: Soriano should thank Milton Bradley for turning the attention away from his own season of horrors, as the once premier free agent signee has since become a toad. It’s not just that Soriano’s defense collapsed (it did) but also that his usually solid batting disappeared with it. Soriano’s BABIP and ISO were down, as was his walk and contact rates. He couldn’t hit a non-fastball for the life of him and that resulted in some laughable efforts at the dish. His contract is too big to be moved, so he’s a Cub until the expiration date.

The Year Ahead: It’s hard to expect that Soriano’s skills decayed this quickly, so there should be some bounceback – some would say a dead-cat bounce – but the extent of which is anyone’s guess. Despite his worst efforts in a while, Soriano still popped 20 home runs and stole nine bases. Put those as your baseline numbers for 2010, and if you can take the strikeouts and potentially low batting average, Soriano might look like an attractive risk. On the off-chance Soriano is toast, at least he won’t come at the cost of a high draft pick. (R.J. Anderson)

Profile: Soriano's contract remains a punch line, but his bat showed some life in 2010. He still strikes out too much, but he showed a return of the power that made him a legitimate star at the start of his contract. His ISO shot back to .238 from .182 in 2009 as Soriano clubbed 40 doubles to go along with 24 home runs. It seems unlikely now, though, that Soriano's average returns to the .280+ level it sat at for much of his career. There is a bit of a log jam in the outfield in Chicago, with Marlon Byrd, Kosuke Fukudome, and Tyler Colvin all looking for playing time. Soriano turns 34 this season, so further decline is a definite possibility. However, his brutal 2009 season, in which he posted exactly 0 WAR, looks like an aberration. Instead, look for a similar season to 2010 out of him in 2011 -- 20+ home runs on the plus side, but only around 70 runs and RBIs and a poor batting average. (Jack Moore)

The Quick Opinion: Soriano's bat will never justify his contract, but 2010 was a return to competency. He can provide good value in HRs but the rest of his usefulness is limited.

Profile: Paying eight figures for a .289 on-base percentage is certainly not what the Cubs were hoping for with Soriano, but tales of his bat's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Soriano continued his 10-year streak of 20 home-run seasons and clubbed 88 RBIs despite just 508 plate appearances. His contract will go down as one of the worst in the game's history, but Soriano still deserves a spot on fantasy rosters this season. (Jack Moore)

The Quick Opinion: Soriano remains a punch line due to his contract, but his bat isn't dead yet. Look for solid power out of the former star.

Profile: After underwhelming 2009 and 2011 seasons from Alfonso Soriano, it looked like the Cubs outfielder would (a) never hit over 30 home runs again and (b) never be worth the gargantuan contract he signed in November of 2006. But the 2012 season marked a renaissance for Soriano. The new Cubs leadership gave him outfield training for the first time in his career, and then demanded he move to a lighter bat. The net result was a four-win season with 32 homers and a power-heavy .262/.322/.499 slash. He also vastly improved his defensive, putting himself in the NL gold glove conversation after making just one error all year, which means both the Cubs and any potential future team would be increasingly comfortable with Soriano as a true outfielder option. For now, it is safe to pencil in Soriano for 500+ PA and 25+ dingers (something in the 110 wRC+ area). He might -- depending on where Dale Sveum bats him and depending on how atrocious/brilliant the other Cubs hitters are -- even cross the 100 RBI line as he did in 2012. For a guy who yearly goes in the last rounds of drafts and cheapest tiers of auctions, that is not a bad get. (Bradley Woodrum)

The Quick Opinion: Soriano's stock is moving up. He improved his defense, which should secure him better playing time near the end of his career, and he revitalized his hitting with a lighter bat. He has the potential to crack 25+ homers in 2013, and the general sense of comedic tragedy attached to his name has meant he's cheap in drafts and auctions.

Profile: 2011 - "This is the year Soriano declines." Nope. 2012 -- "OK, this is the year he declines." Nope. 2013 -- OK, THIS will be the year he declines!" Nope. Soriano continues to defy the critics but hitting more and more home runs -- his total has increased each of the previous five seasons, just as his home run per fly ball ratio has. He has given up a bit of contact to fend off the power decline, and his walk rate is as log as it ever has been. He showed a lot more patience with the Yankees (8.6% walk rate) than he did with the Cubs (3.9% walk rate) but split his homers evenly between the two teams. He is still primarily a pull hitter, but can hit home runs to all parts of the ballpark as his power has not waned much. He will be 38 years old in 2014; to date, there have been just 30 outfielders who have spent most of their time in the outfield in that season at that age since 1990 and only Raul Ibanez has done so with the strikeout rate that Soriano exhibits. This will be the year Soriano declines. I say that with 50% certainty. (Jason Collette)

The Quick Opinion: He will be 38 years old in 2014; to date, there have been just 30 outfielders who have spent most of their time in the outfield in that season at that age since 1990 and only Raul Ibanez has done so with the strikeout rate that Soriano exhibits. This will be the year Soriano declines. I say that with 50% certainty.

Profile: Soriano was but one of several high-profile Yankees who called it quits after the 2014 season, closing a career highlighted by seven straight All-Star Game appearances from 2002 through 2007. Among other reasons, he’ll be remembered for his membership in the exclusive 40-40 club, owing to his fantastic 2006 season with the Nationals in which he slugged 46 home runs and swiped 41 bases. He was, at times, hard-pressed to live up to expectations, particularly after he signed an eight-year, $136 million contract with the Cubs in 2007. But Soriano, the centerpiece of the blockbuster 2004 deal that netted the Yankees Alex Rodriguez, remained quietly productive in the last years of his career; he averaged 33 home runs and 105 RBIs between 2012 and 2013, when he was 36 and 37, and sparked the Yankees upon returning in a midseason trade in 2013. But by the time the Yankees released him in July 2014, his skills had clearly faded; always strikeout-prone, he was whiffing at a nearly 30% pace, was hitting just .221 and had become a defensive liability in the outfield. Soriano enjoyed a 16-year career during which he was counted as both a top second baseman and outfielder, but the time had come for him to hang it up. (Karl de Vries)

The Quick Opinion: So long, Alfonso Soriano, and thanks for all the big swings, big steals, and big smiles along the way.